.€Mm^-- ^^^^ 









-^f 



>.' «K'C^1^ 



; ^:^^«c:^r: 















«s cat" c:^ 






^tn^cie 






XSZcc 



■^■f 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



^"€ 



^v'ft 



o. • «tt 



^/y.. Fill 

PRESENTEn LIY 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, 






dt 

% 

M 
ft€ 



«^/ 















• t C-. 












csr c c 












l^ 



.c ,' fC 






'^ ^'^ ^ 



^ «^ - CO 



S 'C c c 

CT c C 

Ct^ c c 
c <: c c 






<z or cc 



S^^ <^o< < cc car- cc 
^^ <- c-(cc. ^^r: cc 

;>c c -c c ^<:: cc 



d C 
C <C 

^v-:ac 



CCCCq 



3c- cc ^ X^ <^<' 

^ cc **?' c: . ^'c 
^ ^c .^' cr ^« 

(x: ^Cuxc(C 
cc -^c^xcc 
crc ; • cc xcc 

cc . CC^xCC 
cc _ CC CCCcC 

cc _ cc cxccc ■ 
CC _ cc ccccc 

go .__ ccc<ccc 



c#^ cc 

c? ^C 

> C cc 

CC (C 

CC cc 

c c c c 

^:c c c 



' cc .vcc 

^ CC -a: 

^ cc y^- 

•CL cc '-%.- 






^ ^TK C 



. cl;x_ ... cc 

^-^ .._ cc ^. 

CJ-X. _. cccW 

xcx. <__ cccc 
x^^x „_ cc<2= 

<3 ^ -■ccrf^ 

^^A^ /"<X< 

dec 
€7 C C 

d <C €^ 

CT cc C.^_ V ■ 

X tec ^^ ^^ 

C c^ S^ "^^ 

ecu ^5 ex 

. '4^C ^^ ^c 



: «icK-%x. X.' 



^ ,cc <c 

- '^cc«cxc.<i: 

■-^:cxc^c^ 

^':«XX'* 
/"<:XC * 

^' <XX «iC « 



C C^ 

c cc 



c c 



■.rfC ^- d l^i"-«*t c. > ^rcc CCC c c: 















HISTORICAL SKETCH 



mtACAUA, 



FROM 1678 TO 1876. 



n-TI flLHi 



Aiigiistu^Porters House 



iTY 







A Fort Little Niagara. 

B i^e*?-;; Schlosser. 

C Steadman House. 

D Small Dwelling. 

E F Garden aiid Orchard. 

G OM Wench Landing. 



I r)/rf Stockade. 

J K. -RiVer Road. , 

O Old Burning Gr&ttnd. 

P P Portnqe Ri)ads. 




Yol'l Sclilosscn 



Port Litllo 2Ni;i^£U*a. 



# 




Sort Little l^iagara. 



Historical Sketch 



NIAGARA, 



FROM 1678 TO 1876. 











NIAGARA: PAST AND PRESENT. 



THE Cataract of Niagara is one of the great natural won- 
ders of the world. The name is of Indian origin, written 
by the English, lagara, Oniagara, and in more than thirty other 
forms, but finally Niagara, the same first used by Hennepin, and 
pronounced by the Iroquois Nyagarah. Its signification is not 
settled, but probably means nothing more than great or high 
fall. This name was from the first applied by the French to 
the Cataract and River, and to the Fort at the mouth of the 
river. In latter times, the appellation has been extended to the 
American town, near the Falls, and to the Canadian town, 
opposite the P'ort. In foreign countries it is only associated 
with the great Cataract, and persons from the lake regions 
travelling abroad, make use of it as a convenient geographical 
point, to describe to foreigners the situation of places of im- 
portance at home, but comparatively little known beyond our 
own country. 

The Niagara River and the country adjoining, have a long 
and interesting history, connected with the early French and 
subsequent English occupation/' A full and authentic history 
of this locality can only be written after thorough research among 
the early French and English colonial documents, and a care- 
ful discrimination in the use of current traditions. The inter- 
est of the subject well deserves the time and labor required to 
do it justice. 

In the meantime, sketches of more recent events, falling 
within the personal knowledge of the narrator, or derived 
from undoubted authority, may be profitably contributed as 
material for future use. 



4 

A residence of more than sixty years by the narrator, and a 
much longer acquaintance of his father with all Western New 
York, and especially with this part of it, enables him to speak, 
with a degree of confidence, of matters of interest, some of 
which have become indistinct and confused in the public mind. 

The broad region bordering on the St. Lawrence and the 
Lakes, has been the theater of great events, from the early com- 
mencement of French occupation, to the close of the last war 
with England. A brief reference to its early history is neces- 
sary, to a proper understanding of the importance always 
attached to the possession of this commanding point. 

The River St. Lawrence and the Lakes formed the great 
waterway by which the French advanced to the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi, and acquired by means of settlements and military 
posts, planted along their borders, the influence and power long 
exercised over the Indian tribes. The possession of this chan- 
nel of communication with the interior, was to decide the ques- 
tion of sovereignty in America between France and England. 
In this long chain of water communication, the Niagara River 
was an important link. It was the gateway to the regions 
beyond, and an important crossing place between the lakes. 
Fort Niagara commanded the passage, and as a military post 
ranked next in importance to Quebec. 

Over all the vast regions along the lakes and beyond the 
Alleganies, France, by virtue of discovery and partial occupa- 
tion, claimed and exercised for a very long time undisputed 
authority. 

The history of the St. Lawrence and lake regions may be 
properly divided into three distinctly marked periods. The 
first, and longest, embraces French discovery and colonization, 
to the conquest and final surrender of Canada. The second, 
the Pontiac war and the war of the Revolution, and a few years 
subsequent of comparative quiet and of no special interest. 
The third period commences with the sale and settlement of 



5 

lands purchased of the Indians, known as the Genesee Country 
and the Northwestern Territory. This period extends from 
1788 to 1876, and within that short period of national life, the 
country watered by the St. Lawrence and the Lakes has made 
an advance in population, and in every department of material 
improvement, unequaled, so far as we know, in the same time in 
any part of the world. In 1535, more than 70 years before the 
English settlement at Jamestown, or the Dutch occupation of 
Manhattan, and eighty-five years before the landing Of the 
Pilgrims, Jacques Cartier, the distinguished French navigator, 
first entered the Gulf and ascended the River St. Lawrence, 
called by the natives Hochelaga, to an Indian settlement of the 
same name, situated on the site of the present city of Montreal. 
On the site of Quebec he built a small fort of palisades, 
where he moored his vessels, and with his little band of hardy 
adventurers, bravely endured the rigors of a Canadian winter, 
and through sickness and suffering narrowly escaped utter ex- 
termination. On the opening of navigation, they returned to 
France. For various reasons the enterprise was not renewed 
until 1 541, when Cartier again sailed for Canada, with a motley 
company of adventurers, in five small vessels. No better success 
attended his second efibrt for colonization. An expedition of 
similar character under Roberval, intended to co-operate with 
Cartier, was also a failure. Every attempt at permanent settle- 
ment, to the close of that century, shared a like fate. 

In 1603, Champlain following the line of Cartier's discoveries, 
laid the foundation for the future growth and greatness of French 
influence in America. He is known as the founder of French 
settlements, the enterprising discoverer of new regions, and the 
brave defender of French rights. He is represented as a man 
of strong mind and sound judgment, of untiring perseverance 
and heroic courage. 

In his first expedition in 1603, he obtained valuable informa- 
tion of the character of the native population, and of the geo- 



graphy of the country, with rude plans of the lakes, rivers and 
rapids, and of the great Cataract. His second expedition, in 
1608, had for its objects, discovery, permanent settlement and 
conversion of the Indians — by means not altogether peaceful — 
and the extension of French influence and power, and he engaged 
in his great work with a zeal and courage truly wonderful. 

In 1609, he conducted an expedition of his Indian allies, 
against the common enemy, the Iroquois, over the lake which 
still bears his name. 

In 161 5, he ascended the Ottawa, and passing through Lake 
Nipissing, was the first to discover Lake Huron. Returning by 
a more direct course to Lake Ontario, he led a hostle ex- 
pedition of the Hurons across that lake, into the heart of the 
Iroquois confederacy. His own discoveries, and knowledge ob- 
tained from various sources, enabled him to prepare a map, 
which was published in 1632, showing all that was then known 
of the lake regions. That map indicates correctly the position 
of the Falls of Niagara, but Lake Erie is scarcely recognizable; 
and the connection between Lakes Ontario and Huron is mere 
conjecture — and well it might be, previous communication with 
the upper lakes having been by the Northern route, by the 
Ottawa and Lake Huron, and so continued to be, for many 
years afterwards. 

From 1669, under the administration of Courcellcs, Talon 
and Frontenac, more extended plans were adopted for discov- 
eries in the far West, of which the imperfect knowledge, derived 
from the Indians, had served to awaken curiosity. 

Men were found and commissioned for these difficult and 
dangerous labors, well qualified to perform them. The names 
of Marquette and Joliett, the discoverers of the Mississippi, 
and of La Salle, the discoverer of still more remote regions, are 
famous in the history of the West, and will ever be remembered 
with admiration for their enterprise, perseverance and courage, 
and with respect for their religious zeal. 



7 

La Salle was especially distinguished for every qualification 
necessary to success. He possessed in a high degree, intelligence, 
sound judgment, courage, perseverance, and a vigorous consti- 
tution, with the additional advantage of influential friends, and 
pecuniary resources of his own, and he entered on his work with 
high hopes and strong confidence. In 1669, La Salle embarked 
on Lake Ontario for his first voyage of discovery, and under 
Indian guidance reached the settlements of the Senecas on 
Genesee River, with the hope that he might there find a guide 
and safe conduct to the river now known as the Ohio, of which 
the Indians had given information, but which had never been 
visited by the French. For a time he was delayed and disap- 
pointed, though not discouraged. With untiring energy and 
perseverance, he finally accomplished his object, and established 
an unquestionable claim to the discovery of the Ohio, which he 
descended to the falls at Louisville. 

The history of Niagara and its Vicinity dates from 1678, when 
La Salle set out on his second expedition, undertaken on high 
authority, with more extended views and a more liberal outfit. 

The expedition, though approved by royal authority, was 
fitted out and sustained at the private expense of La Salle and 
his friends. Among his associates were Henri de Tonty, who 
proved a most efficient and worthy assistant, and Father Henne- 
pin, a name familiarly associated with this locality, as the first to 
visit and describe the Falls of Niagara. 

Embarking at Frontenac in two small vessels, they sailed 
directly for the mouth of Niagara River, where it was proposed 
to erect a small military defensive work, and with means duly 
provided, to construct a vessel on the river, above the Falls, in 
which to continue their voyage to the upper lakes. 

La Salle fully comprehended the importance of the position, 
in connection with his plan of operations, and after some nego- 
tiations with the Indians, constructed a fort of palisades, on the 
site of the present Fort Niagara. 



Hennepin, with others, visited the Falls, and has furnished 
the first description and view of the great Cataract. 

His description greatly exaggerates the height, and is in other 
respects faulty, but the view indicates perhaps no greater 
changes than might be expected from a cause so constant and 
powerful, in a period of two hundred years. During the winter 
of 1678 and '9, the required vessel was built at the mouth of 
Cayuga Creek, five miles above the Falls, and named the 
Griffin. In the summer of 1679, La Salle embarked with his 
followers on his voyage to the upper lakes. The little vessel 
reached safely the trading post and Jesuit station at Mackinaw, 
and thence proceeded to Green Bay. From that point the 
Griffin, with a cargo of furs, set out on her return to Niagara, 
but failed to reach her destination, and was never afterwards 
heard from. 

La Salle and his company embarked in canoes, and coasted 
southward along Lake Michigan to the mouth of the St. Joseph, 
and up that stream and across to the headwaters of the Kankakee, 
and descended that river and the Illinois to Peoria, near which he 
erected a small fort, for winter quarters and for protection against 
the Indians. The loss of the Griffin, and the consequent failure 
of expected supplies, rendered further progress impossible, and 
made it necessary to return to Frontenac for a new outfit. 
Accordingly leaving the larger part of his force to hold the fort, 
he set out on his long and perilous journey through snow and 
ice and floods, and through forests haunted by wild beasts and 
wily and hostile savages. But he bravely triumphed over all 
difficulties and dangers, and the object of his journey having 
been accomplished, with unabated zeal and energy, set out anew 
on his perilous and laborious enterprise down the Illinois to 
the Mississippi. Though not the first to discover, he has the 
distinguished honor of having been the leader of the first expe- 
dition to navigate the great river, from the interior to the Gulf of 
Mexico. That point being reached, he assembled his followers 



on the shore of the river, in view of the Gulf, and with due rcHgi- 
ous and military ceremonies, then and there, according to the 
custom observed by European discoverers of that day, took 
formal possession, in the name of his sovereign, Louis 14th, of 
the vast regions watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries. 

His third and last expedition by sea, for further exploration 
and occupation, was unfortunate, but his wearisome wanderings 
over the same wild regions, still further connect his name and 
fame with the great discoveries he had made, and give him 
place with the most distinguished discoverers of any age. He 
finally died by the hand of an assassin, in the wilds of Texas, 
a martyr in the cause to which he had devoted his life. We 
honor his memory, and have good cause of satisfaction that 
our history commences with so worthy a name. 

France from the beginning manifested great military sagacity in 
the selection of commanding points, and great tact in her Indian 
policy. Had she given more attention to permanent settlement 
and encouraged emigration, with the wisdom that characterized 
her military and Indian policy, her possession would have been 
more permanent, and her final overthrow more doubtful and 
difficult. Her military posts were judiciously chosen, and brave- 
ly maintained, and aided by her Jesuit Missionaries, and enter- 
prising fur traders, she acquired a powerful influence over the 
Indian tribes. The French system was essentially military, and 
relied on the mother country for support, and when that failed, 
all was lost. This view will appear the more striking, when we 
remember that France preceded England in planting colonies 
in America, and possessing equal resources, might with a better 
system of colonization, have attained equal or even greater suc- 
cess, corresponding with the vast territory, so early and widely 
possessed, and so bravely defended. As late as 1757, France 
held all the strategic points on the line of her territorial claims. 
Louisburg, Quebec and Montreal, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 
Frontenac, (Oswego had been captured and destroyed), Niagara, 



lO 

Detroit and Mackinaw, and numerous less important posts, com- 
manding the communication between the lakes and the Ohio 
and the Mississippi, with a controlling influence over all the 
Western tribes. At that date the English Colonies were in fact 
bounded on the west by the Alleganies, and the possessions of 
the Iroquois. But they had become impatient of restraint, and 
conscious of their power, the inevitable struggle for mastery, 
could no longer be delayed. The war was to be a bloody and 
decisive one, and preparations were made proportioned to the 
importance of the result. France put forth her best efforts for 
defence, and England, under the administration of Pitt, for the 
first time, extended liberal and powerful support to the Colonies, 
for the overthrow of a power, hostile to their security and 
future extension. Under these circumstances the result was 
what might have been expected. The campaign of i/S^ re- 
sulted in the capture of Louisburg, Duquesne and Frontenac. 
That of 1759 was equally successful against Quebec, Ticonde- 
roga, Crown Point and Niagara. And the surrender in the fol- 
lowing year of Montreal, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Miami, 
Detroit and Mackinaw, and other less important posts, com- 
pleted the conquest, and left England without a rival in Amer- 
ica, and secured to the Colonies the power of indefinite extension. 

The fort at Niagara occupied a position of much importance 
in relation to free communication westward, and as a check on 
the unfriendly Iroquois, and was maintained, enlarged and 
strengthened from time to time. 

DeNonville at the conclusion of his campaign against the 
Iroquois in 1687, proceeded to Niagara, and erected more sub- 
stantial defences. In 1725, the English threatening to establish 
a post at Oswego, the French saw the necessity of still further 
strengthening the works at Niagara. The Indians consented to 
the improvement at first, with the understanding that it should 
not be a stone fort — at a subsequent council, they waived this 
restriction, and the French immediately commenced the con- 



1 1 

struction of the Mess house, and other substantial stone build- 
ings, still standing. In 1755, the commencement of the French 
war, Niagara is represented on French authority, as in a dilapi- 
dated condition, and incapable of defence against a formidable 
attack. In the following year, Capt. Pouchot, an engineer of 
ability, employed a large force in enlarging, improving and 
strengthening the works, and cannon captured at Braddock's 
defeat, and others by Montcalm at Oswego, were added to its 
means of defence. 

The campaign of 1759 was an eventful one, and on the part 
of the English and Colonial troops, eminently successful. The 
capture of Niagara was one of the great objects in view. The 
army intended for this purpose, was composed of regular and 
Colonial troops numbering about 2,300, with Indian auxiliaries 
under Sir Wm. Johnson, numbering about 1,000, the whole under 
the command of General Prideaux. The army embarked at 
Oswego on the ist of July, and on the 6th landed at Four Mile 
Creek, without opposition, and proceeded immediately to invest 
the fort, then garrisoned by five or six hundred men, under the 
command of Captain Pouchot. Orders were promptly dis- 
patched by him to the western posts for re-enforcements, and a 
force represented at about 600 troops and about 1,000 Indians, 
under Lignery and Aubry, was collected at Presque Isle, and 
embarked for Niagara. 

Chabert Joncaire, son of Joncaire, hereafter mentioned, who 
was in command of the fort called Little Niagara, situated about 
one and a half miles above the Falls, was ordered, in case he 
saw any traces of the enemy, to cross the river and fall back on 
Niagara. Aubry and Lignery were informed of the strength 
*and position of the enemy, and in case they did not feel able to 
meet them, were ordered to pass down on the west side of the 
river. If this order had been obeyed, the result might have 
been much less disastrous to the French. Although the English 
had a considerable force on the west side, with a battery opera- 



12 

ting against the Fort, the superiority of the French might at 
least have given them a temporary success, and opened com- 
munication with the Fort. 

The Enghsh pressed the siege vigorously. Gen. Prideaux 
was killed, and the command devolved on Sir Wm. Johnson. 
In the meantime, the Indians had become impatient of delay, 
and being poorly supplied, and wavering in their attachment to 
the English cause, they made loud complaints and threatened 
to return home. Sir Wm. Johnson, with his usual tact, induced 
them to agree to remain for a few days, with the promise to give 
them the pillage of the fort, which he assured them he was nearly 
ready to assault. The British commander being duly informed 
of the approach of the enemy, made the best disposition possi- 
ble of his forces to receive them. The Indians were sent for- 
ward and placed in ambush, to commence an attack on the 
flanks, while a force of about 700 British and Colonial troops, 
protected by a breastwork of trees thrown across the road, 
awaited the approach of the enemy in front. A bloody battle 
ensued, in which the French suffered a total defeat. The 
slaughter is represented to have been very great, and the 
pursuit long continued. The French troops that escaped, fled 
to Little Niagara, where their bateaux had been left under a 
strong guard, where they embarked and proceeded to Detroit. 
Captain Pouchot, the commander of the post, had good reason 
to complain that his orders for the advance on the west side of 
the river of the relieving force, had been disregarded, and that 
he had received no notice of its near approach, to enable him 
to render effectual assistance from the fort. He attempted to 
make a sortie with 150 men, but it was too late — the British 
were returning in force to the trenches, and he was obliged to 
withdraw. Pouchot makes the following statement of the con- 
dition of the garrison. One hundred and nine men had been 
killed and wounded, thirty-seven were sick, and the remaining 
four hundred were greatly reduced by fatigue — no more than 



^6 
150 muskets were fit for service, the heavy cannon balls all 
spent, and the works injured beyond the possibility of repair or 
defence against a force so formidable. All hope of relief hav- 
ing failed, the garrison surrendered on the 25th of July, the day 
after the battle. 

In 1 719, Chabert Joncaire, a lieutenant in the French service, 
who had once been a prisoner with the Senecas, and adopted 
into their tribe — by which he obtained an influence with them, 
which he retained after his release — with the approbation of the 
Governor of Canada, applied to the Senecas, and, in considera- 
tion of his adoption, obtained from them permission to build a 
hut or wigwam at the lower landing of the portage. Under 
this license, he erected a building thirty by forty feet, surrounded 
by palisades, on the lower river bank at Lewiston, serving as a 
protection to the landing, and a place of trade with the Indians. 
In 1 72 1, the English applied to the Senecas for a like privilege, 
which being denied, they made an unsuccessful attempt to break 
up Joncaire's establishment. As evidence of the importance 
attached by the English to the Indian trade. Gov. Burnet, in 
1724, ordered Capt. Peter Schuyler to accompany an expedition 
of young men to settle in the Seneca country, to trade with the 
Indians from the upper lakes, stating that it was of great inter- 
est to the English to have a settlement on the nearest point to 
Lake Erie, near the Falls of Niagara, and authorizing him to 
purchase in His Majesty's name of the Senecas all the lands 
above the Falls of Niagara that they might be willing to sell, 
to the distance of fifty miles southward of said Falls. Although 
nothing resulted from this order, it shows the importance attached 
to the possession of this point. During all the period of French 
occupation, most of the supplies for the military posts and trad- 
ing stations, and the furs and skins purchased of the western 
Indians, were transported over the portage on the backs of 
Indians, excepting very heavy and bulky articles, which were 
moved up and down the mountain by means of an inclined 



14 

plane, on the most direct course to the landing, the remains of 
which were to be seen early in the present century. 

Professor Kalm, a Swedish naturalist, on a scientific tour in 
America, visited Niagara in 1750. He says he found Joncaire 
at the carrying-place, and a settlement there of about 200 Sen- 
ecas, who were employed in carrying on their backs over the 
portage, packs of bear and deer skins, at 20 cents a pack. 

In 1757, the Indians complained to the French Governor that 
carts and teams were employed in transportation across the port- 
age, in violation of their long enjoyed rights and privileges. 
The first landing place in use above the Falls, was at a point 
still known as the French Landing, about eighty rods above the 
rapids. LaHontan and his party going westward in 1688, trans- 
ported their canoes over the portage to that place, and made a 
hasty visit to the Falls, which he represents as only five hundred 
paces distant. Through fear of the Indians he hurried back 
to his boats. 

In 1 72 1, Charlevoix speaks of the trading house of Joncaire 
at the lower landing, as before described, and also of the upper 
landing, which he says is about half a mile above the Falls. 

Fort Little Niagara was built in 1750 on the bank of the 
river about one and a half miles above the Falls. It was a 
wooden work surrounded with palisades, with ditches and angles 
in the usual form. For some time it was an important Indian 
trading station under Joncaire, who acted in the double capacity 
of Indian trader, and commander of the post. It was burned 
and abandoned by the French during the siege of Fort Niagara, 
The outlines are still distinct. 

In 1762, the English built another fort of similar character, 
about forty rods further down the river, called Fort Schlosser. 

In 1806, three or four of the block houses and part of the 
palisades around the fort, and the dock at the landing place, 
were standing, and remained until destroyed in the war of 18 12. 
The outlines can be still distinctly traced. -ype^X.^ / yo ^^pf^S^U. 



15 

After the surrender of Fort Niagara, Sir Wm. Johnson and a 
number of his officers made a visit to the Falls with an escort 
of four companies of infantry. 

In 1760, Major Rogers with about 200 troops set out from 
Niagara to receive and occupy the western posts, still occupied 
by the French, subject to the terms of surrender. This force 
embarked in bateaux at the upper landing, and proceeded on 
its voyage up Lake Erie, without accident or opposition, and 
successfully accomplished the duty assigned it. 

The years of 1761 and '2 were free from any serious Indian 
disturbances, though unfriendly feelings, and a growing discon- 
tent under English authority, became more and more apparent. 
Sir Wm. Johnson, superintendent of Indian affairs, visited Nia- 
gara and Detroit in 1761, and spent a considerable time at Fort 
Niagara, and in the vicinity of the Falls. There could have 
been no fort or other building at the upper landing at that time, 
as he states in his journal, that he quartered in a tent. At the 
same time he says, men were at work on a large house for a 
company of Indian traders, who had been permitted by Sir 
Jeffrey Amherst to establish themselves at that place, enjoying 
a monopoly of transportation, and Indian trade. Complaints 
were made against this monopoly, to the English Board of Trade, 
by other persons engaged in the Indian trade, and by Sir Wm. 
Johnson, and the special privileges revoked. The large house 
referred to was undoubtedly that afterwards occupied by John 
and Philip Steadman. The current tradition is, that the same 
building was first erected at Fort Niagara, and used by the 
French as a chapel, and was afterwards taken dowai and rebuilt 
at the place named. This is rendered quite probable from the 
fact, that a chapel was standing in the fort in 1757, which dis- 
appeared and was never otherwise accounted for, and also that 
on the building occupied by Steadman — presumed to be the 
same — there was a steeple or belfry, an appendage not likely 
to have been added, unless as a part of the original building. 



Furthermore on a map made by George Dember, an engineer 
in the British service in 1761, the whole course of the river is 
represented, showing the upper and lower landings, and the 
portage road, correctly traced, and the house referred to, placed 
as nearly as possible in its true position, where the old stone 
chimney now stands. It is not probable that the French ever 
erected any building on that site, or at any point, outside of 
their fort. Sir Wm. Johnson visited Navy Island, where two 
vessels were being built, one of which was nearly completed, 
which on his return from Detroit he met at Black Rock, laden 
with supplies for the western posts and trading stations. Both 
these vessels, a sloop and schooner, rendered important service 
during the siege of Detroit in 1763. 

Two sunken wrecks at Burnt Ship Creek, near the lower end 
of Grand Island, are believed to have been French vessels, burnt 
after the abandonment of Little Niagara. Though there seems 
to be a lack of historical evidence on the subject, there is ground 
to believe that the French lost vessels, not otherwise accounted 
:2_ , for, and that these hulks are the remains. Sir Wm. Johnson 
states that an English vessel was burnt near that place in 1767. 

With the close of the French war new hopes dawned on the 
English Colonies, of future peace and the power of unlimited ex- 
tension. But great trials and sufferings were yet to be endured. 
The Indian power was still formidable and active, and the great 
Revolutionary struggle was not far distant. Though France 
had made a formal surrender of the long disputed territory, still 
French hostility and intrigue were active in stirring up the Indi- 
ans to constant opposition and strife with their new masters. 

In the spring of 1763, Pontiac, the celebrated Ottawa chief, 
had succeeded in securing the co-operation of all the western 
tribes in a general Indian war, to open with a sudden and sim- 
ultaneous attack on all the western military posts. Mackinaw, 
Sandusky, Miami, Presque Isle, Le Beouf and Venango, were 
captured and destroyed, and their garrisons murdered or reserved 



17 

for future cruelty. Detroit and Fort Pitt were invested for sev- 
eral months, and only saved from capture by heroic valor, 
through much suffering and blood. The frontier settlements of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia were invaded, and men, women and 
children murdered, or doomed to captivity and cruelty, worse 
than death itself 

Great exertions were made during the season of navigation to 
send supplies and reinforcements for the relief of Detroit. In 
May, Lieut. Cuyler embarked in five bateaux at Fort Schlosser 
with about one hundred men and supplies of ammunition and 
provisions. Landing near the mouth of Detroit river, they were 
attacked by Indians, three of the boats captured, and more than 
half the men killed, or taken prisoners, and afterwards cruelly 
tortured and put to death, Lieut. Cuyler with the remainder 
escaping in two boats, and returning to Niagara. Soon after, a 
vessel reached Detroit with about sixty men and supplies for the 
suffering garrison. 

In July, Capt. Dalzell with 280 men and ammunition and pro- 
visions, after a long voyage in bateaux from Niagara, arrived 
safely at Detroit. Still the siege continued, with serious losses 
to the English, and the necessity for further aid was very urgent. 
While new forces were collecting, and needful supplies for the 
expedition and for Detroit were being transported over the port- 
age of Niagara, the disastrous and bloody affair at the Devil's 
Hole occurred. This was an attack by a band of Seneca Indians 
led by the Seneca chief. Farmer's Brother, on a train of wagons, 
ox teams, pack-horses and attendants, with an escort of an offi- 
cer and 24 men, on their way upward over the portage. The In- 
dians lying in ambush, attacked the party by surprise, Avith such 
fatal effect that but two or three persons escaped. John Stead- 
man, the conductor of the train, being well mounted, succeeded in 
making his way to Fort Schlosser. The wagons and property 
were destroyed, and all the cattle killed or driven away. An 
alarm was given to a small force of British and Colonial troops. 



lying at the time near Lewiston, who marched promptly to the 
scene of action. The Indians, aware of this movement, advanced, 
and again, by a like device, surprised and utterly routed them, 
with heavy loss. As soon as intelligence of the disaster reached 
Niagara, a large force was sent forward, but the Indians had all 
fled, and death and desolation covered the scene. Sir Wm. 
Johnson in an official letter says, five officers and sixty-four pri- 
vates were killed and eight or nine wounded. He also expresses 
a fear that the loss of cattle, and the means of transportation 
over the portage, at so late a period in the season- — the middle 
of September — would render it impossible to afford relief to 
Detroit; and we shall see that he had sufficient cause for fear. 
The expedition for Detroit before referred to, consisted of six 
hundred men with necessary supplies, under the command of 
Major Wilkins. For the reasons given, it was not in readiness 
to embark at Fort Schlosser until late in October. The Indians 
were on the alert, prepared for an attack, at the most exposed 
point in the river, described in one of the published reports of 
the time, as " at the east end of Lake Erie," and another as " at 
the entrance of Lake Erie, eighteen miles from Fort Schlosser," 
—at Black Rock rapids. At that point the depth of water and 
the rapidity of the current rendered it necessary for the boats to 
hug the shore, and the movement was of course slow and diffi- 
cult. The attack was made on the two sternmost boats, the 
others being half a mile in advance, and serious loss was inflicted 
before assistance could be afforded and the Indians driven from 
their position. The loss amounted in killed and wounded to 
twenty-six men and three officers. The officers, and probably 
all the wounded men, were sent back to Fort Schlosser, and 
from thence to the hospital at Fort Niagara, where Lieut. 
Johnson died of his wounds. The return of a boat, with the 
wounded and the necessary guard, affords a reasonable ex- 
planation of a statement since made, that a part of the expedi- 
tion was obliged to return to Fort Schlosser. 



19 

It was the rst of November, the season of storms, when this 
fleet of bateaux — unfit for lake navigation at any season — set 
out on its voyage up the lake. When near the mouth of the 
Cayahoga River, these frail vessels encountered a violent storm, 
in which twenty bateaux were wrecked, seventy men drowned, 
and artillery, with ammunition and provisions in large quanti- 
ties lost. Thereupon the expedition, unable to proceed, made 
its way back, as best it could, to Niagara. 

Fortunately for Detroit, the Indians had raised the siege, and 
dispersed to their hunting grounds, before the fatal disaster 
overtook the expedition — known by the Indians to be approach- 
ing — otherwise the result might have been very different, and 
the worst fears expressed by Sir Wm. Johnson realized. 

The Indian war had become a very serious matter, and could 
only be brought to a conclusion by energetic measures and a 
large military force. In the winter following, and preparatory 
to opening the campaign of 1764, Sir Wm. Johnson gave notice 
to all the Indian tribes, of the preparations that were making 
for prosecuting the war, and urged all who desired peace and 
the friendship of the English, to meet him in council, at Nia- 
gara in the. spring. In the meantime two considerable armies 
were preparing for the campaign, one to advance from Fort Pitt 
along the Ohio, the other by way of Niagara to the country 
along the lakes. The latter reached Niagara early in July, 
under the command of Col. Bradstreet, favorably known for his 
success with the expedition against Fort Frontenac in 1758. 

In the Indian council appointed by Sir Wm. Johnson most of 
the tribes were fully represented, and a great number, estimated 
at two thousand, besides women and children, encamped on the 
plain around Niagara. At first the Senecas refused to appear, 
but a threat to destroy their villages, brought them to terms. 
In due time a delegation appeared, bringing in, as required, a 
number of prisoners and deserters. A treaty of peace was con- 
cluded, and also a cession of land, which Sir Wm. Johnson 



20 

describes as follows, in a despatch to the Earl of Halifax, dated 
August 30, 1764 — "Your Lordship will observe by the treaty 
of peace with the Senecas, that they have given up all the lands 
from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, of the breadth of four miles, 
on each side of the strait. The carrying-place is comprehended 
therein, and there are at present several little posts erected 
for its better security. They do not chose that it should be- 
come private property, as their hunting grounds are adjacent 
to it, but it may turn to very great use to all the posts on the 
communication, which is the most important of any I am ac- 
quainted with. At the time of making this cession, as your 
Lordship will see in the treaty, the Senecas gave me all the 
islands lying in the strait between the two lakes." 

The cession of the islands to Sir VVm. Johnson, he says he 
accepted, that he might transfer them to the Crown. But he 
probably could not have held them, as an order in council had 
been issued, dated the 7th of October, 1763, "enjoining that no 
private person presume to make any purchase of lands, reserved 
to the Indians. But that if at any time, the Indians shall be 
inclined to dispose of any lands, the same shall be purchased 
only in the name and for the use of the King, at a public meet- 
ing or assembly of the Indians, held for that purpose." 

Notwithstanding the treaties concluded with the Indians at 
Niagara, there was still need of the army at the West. But the 
great number of Indians in the vicinity, rendered it unsafe for 
Bradstreet to go forward, until their departure. In the mean- 
time, to render his communication safe, several small stockade- 
posts were built along the portage, at distances of a mile apart 
and the outlines of several of them remained until obliterated 
by frequent plowing. One still remains well defined, about a 
mile from Fort Schlosser. A small fort was built at the same 
time just above the Black Rock rapids, and below the ruins 
of Fort Erie, for the protection of vessels, and as stated, for the 
convenience of laying them up in the winter. 



21 

Early in August, Bradstreet with about fifteen hundred troops, 
and a few hundred Indians, embarked at Fort Schlosser in a 
large number of bateaux, and coasted slowly along the lake, 
spending much time at Sandusky on useless negotiations, 
encouraged by the Indians merely to gain time and avoid 
deserved punishment, but without any decisive action. The con- 
duct of Bradstreet was severely censured by the commander-in- 
chief for lack of energy in failing to chastise the Indians, as he 
had abundant power to have done. Still the display of so large 
a force, the relief of Detroit, and the re-establishment of the 
abandoned posts, had doubtless an important effect in dissolving 
the Indian league and restoring peace. 

Pontiac continued irreconcilable and hostile, but his power 
was broken, and with it the last hope of successful resistance to 
English supremacy. On the return of the expedition after 
leaving Sandusky, it was overtaken by a violent storm, which 
resulted in the loss of twenty-five bateaux, most of the ammu- 
nition and baggage, together with a field train of six pieces of 
brass cannon. In consequence of the loss of boats, about 150 
Colonial troops, under the command of Major Israel Putnam, 
afterwards known as General Putnam, were left to make their 
way through the wilderness, with great labor, and much suffer- 
ing from cold and hunger, to Niagara. 

Col. Bouquet, the commander of the southern expedition, 
acted with more promptness, energy and success. The Dela- 
wares and Shawmoes, the most hostile of the tribes, were 
reduced to entire submission, and the campaign closed with the 
prospect of permanent peace. That portion of the State of 
New York, embracing the Mohawk and Genesee Valleys, and 
the country lying between, was first known as the country of the 
Iroquois, the most warlike and powerful of the Indian nations 
— consisting originally of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, 
Cayugas and Senecas, called the Five Nations, and after the 
admission of the Tuscaroras in 171 5, the Six Nations. From 



2 2 

the earliest known period, this celebrated confederacy, acting in 
its united capacity, had been the scourge of surrounding nations, 
far and near, almost exterminating many tribes, and compelling 
their remnants to seek refuge in the far West. The Hurons, 
inhabiting the country south of Lake Huron ; the Neutral Nation, 
on the north side of Lake Erie and the Niagara River; the Eries, 
on the south shore of Lake Erie ; and the Andastes, in the lower 
valley of the Susquehanna, four powerful tribes, were utterly 
subdued and driven from their possessions by this powerful con- 
federacy, between 1649 and 1675. The location of the Iroquois 
afforded great facilities, by means of water communication 
through the adjoining lakes and rivers, to push their hostile 
operations in every direction, and they were never at rest. The 
numerous powerful French expeditions sent out to humble and 
subdue these active and troublesome enemies, and the military 
posts established on their borders held them in check, but never 
conquered them ; and not until the campaign of 1779, with the 
army under Gen. Sullivan, were they made to feel that they 
must finally yield to a superior power. They have always ex- 
hibited the best attributes of savage superiority, but their power 
was chiefly due to their peculiar family and tribal organizations, 
and to close union and combined action in all their warlike 
operations. 

The expedition under Gen. Sullivan in 1779, was sent out to 
chastise these hostile tribes, for their barbarous conduct at 
Wyoming and Cherry Valley, in the previous year, and prevent 
future incursions, by destroying their settlements, and driving 
them into Canada. It consisted of about 4,000 men — a force 
deemed sufficient to overcome all opposition, and to capture 
Fort Niagara, the favorite haunt of savages and tories, where, 
under the leadership of Brandt and Butler, their barbarous 
forays were organized. The army advanced by way of the Sus- 
quehanna and Tioga and Seneca Lake, to the Genesee River, 
defeating and driving the Indians from their villages, and utterly 



destroying all their dwellings and crops in the Genesee Valley, 
on both sides of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, and in all that 
region. Although the Indians were severely chastised, the 
movements of Sullivan were so dilatory, that for lack of time, or 
other causes, he failed to reach Niagara, and the Fort remained 
to harbor our worst enemies, and exert an unfavorable influence 
over the Indians during the war, and to the period of its final 
surrender. Under British encouragement, the Indians continued 
the struggle for two or three years longer, but with the close of 
the Revolution all organized and open hostility ceased, and the 
way was opened for peaceful negotiation and permanent settle- 
ment. All that remain of these once proud and powerful Indian 
tribes are small remnants of the Mohawks on Grand River in 
Canada, of the Senecas at Allegany and Tonawanda, and of the 
Tuscaroras in the vicinity of the Falls. 

In 1786, the conflicting claims of New York and Massachu- 
setts to the territory lying west of Seneca Lake, were settled by 
commissioners on behalf of each State, awarding to New York 
the jurisdiction, and to Massachusetts the ownership of the soil, 
subject to the Indian title, excepting only a tract one mile in 
width along the Niagara River, then and since known as the 
New York Reservation. 

With the exception of the tract four miles in width along the 
Niagara River, ceded by the treaty held with Sir Wm. Johnson 
in 1764, the Indians were the recognized owners and exclusive 
occupants of this whole territory. 

In 1787, Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham purchased of 
the State of Massachusetts its entire interest in the territory 
referred to, and in 1788, held a treaty with the Indians, under 
which they obtained from them title to all that portion lying east 
of Genesee River, and also to a tract twelve by twenty-eight 
miles, lying west of that river. The latter was called the mill- 
seat tract, embracing the great water power at Genesee Falls. 
As an inducement to build a grist mill at that place — now 



24 y 

Rochester — the proprietors agreed to convey to Ebenezer Allen 
one hundred acres of land on the river. The mill was erected, 
and stood near the west end of the aqueduct. Augustus Porter 
was appointed to survey the land, taking the mill as the middle 
point up and down stream. The promised conveyance does not 
appear ever to have been made, but in a conveyance made by 
the same grantors of surrounding land, exception is made of the 
said one hundred acres, as conveyed to Allen, and this recogni- 
tion was held to constitute a good title to, what is now, the rich- 
est district of the city of Rochester. Phelps and Gorham relin- 
quished to the State of Massachusetts all the land/ not purchased 
at the treaty referred to, and it was sold soon after to Robert 
Morris, the great financier of the Revolution. In 1797, the 
Indians ceded to Robert Morris the title to the residue of their 
lands lying west of Genesee River, with the exception of what 
were long known as their Reservations, surrounding their settle- 
ments, a small part of which they still retain. 

The settlement of the lands acquired under the first treaty, 
commenced immediately, though under great difficulties and 
embarrassments. The country was, of course, without roads, 
and only accessible by tedious routes of difficult navigation — on 
the south by the Susquehanna and Tioga Rivers, and on the 
north by the Mohawk, Oneida Lake, and Seneca River. For 
many years the Indians were in an excitable state, and by no 
means friendly. They were still numerous, and undisputed 
owners of the country lying west of the Phelps and Gorham 
purchase. Stimulated by Canadian hatred and jealousy of 
American interests, they were regarded with fear by the early 
inhabitants, until after the signal defeat of the western tribes, 
by Gen. Wayne, in 1794. 

Our country was just beginning to recover from the exhausting 
efforts of the Revolutionary war, and the people who left their 
eastern homes, were generally poor, with little else than strong 
arms, and brave hearts, to sustain them in the toils and hard- 



25 

ships of the wilderness. Through great self-denial and patient 
suffering, they toiled on, until Indian alarms ceased, and Indian 
titles were extinguished. Improved health and comfort followed, 
and their arduous labors were finally crowned with broad pos- 
sessions, and a generous competency. Before this happy con- 
dition was realized, by the later settlers, west of Genesee River, 
new sufferings awaited them, occasioned by the war of 1 8 12. To 
these so far as relates to the frontier, we will refer in proper con- 
nection, after tracing the history of our more immediate neigh- 
borhood to that period. 

The first occupation of lands in the vicinity of the Falls, was 
by the French, in connection with transportation across the por- 
tage, and the possession and defence of the landing places at 
both ends of it. They built as already stated Fort Little Niag- 
ara for the protection of the upper landing, and opened the road 
required for travel and transportation. This road first termina- 
ted a short distance above the rapids, but was changed, proba- 
bly at the time Fort Little Niagara was built, to the landing 
place at that point. How large a space was cleared around the 
fort is not known, but doubtless enough to prevent a surprise, or 
give shelter to the Indians for an attack. Fort Schlosser and 
the large house referred to, were built by the English, and the 
house and adjoining lands occupied as early as 1763 hy John 
Steadman. He cleared more land both at that place and along 
the high river bank opposite Goat Island, and set out an or- 
chard of about 150 trees near his house, of which about a dozen 
are still standing. He also cleared about ten acres of the up- 
per end of Goat Island, and put a number of goats there, from 
which fact the island derived its name. These goats all perished 
in the winter of 1780, memorable for its severity. No Indian 
name for this island is known. At an early day the proprietors 
gave it the beautiful and appropriate name of Iris Island, but 
the real goat was more acceptable to the public than the myth- 
ical goddess, and so the goats have it, and the original name is 



26 

retained. It must have been an early Indian haunt, from the 
fact that a deposit of human bones was discovered upon it. Au- 
gustus Porter visited the island in 1806, and observed many 
names carved on the bark of beech trees, one of which with the 
date of 1769 was legible for many years afterwards. Deer were 
often seen on the island, and after the bridge was built one was 
driven into the rapids and made his way safely to the main 
shore, and another fled to the lower end of the island and bold- 
ly jumped over the precipice. There is ground for belief that 
the French built a sawmill at the Falls at an early day. If so, 
it fell into decay, and was rebuilt by the English. It is certain 
that Steadman was in possession of a sawmill situated at the 
head of the rapids in 1779. 

Steadman himself, or by his agent, retained possession of the 
house and lands about Fort Schlosser, or Little Niagara as he 
still called it, and at the Falls, until removed by the lessees and 
purchasers of the State, by legal process. In 1801, Steadman 
applied to the Legislature of New York to confirm a pretended 
Indian title to a tract of about five thousand acres of land, 
bounded by Niagara River, Gill Creek, and a line extending east 
from Devil's Hole to said creek. He set forth in his petition, 
that at the Indian council with Sir Wm. Johnson held in 1764, 
the Indians executed a conveyance of the said tract to him ; and 
that the deed was deposited with Sir Wm. Johnson for safe 
keeping, and lost with his papers. The Legislature disregarded 
the claim, and a few years afterwards sold the land to other par- 
ties. In 1823, the heirs of Steadman brought a number of suits 
against the purchasers, and the test suit with the chief proprie- 
tor, Avas tried at Albany, and defended by the Attorney General, 
Samuel A. Talcott, and Judge Howell of Canandaigua. No evi- 
dence of title was shown, but on the contrary, it appeared that 
the treaty of 1764 by which the Indians ceded the land in ques- 
tion to the Crown, and the order in council prohibiting the 
purchase of Indian lands, except for the Government, were both 



27 

of earlier date than the pretended conveyance to Stcadman. It 
also appeared that John and Philip Stcadman held for many 
years a lease from the British Government of the portage, con- 
ditioned for the exclusive right of transportation, and for the 
occupation of all the improved land about Schlosser, and a large 
tract of unimproved land adjoining, for the support of their teams 
and cattle. No other rights were ever granted by the British 
Government. It was shown that in 1779 John .Steadman, for 
himself and brother, proposed to sell their cattle, horses, wagons 
and all other property on the premises, and to assign their lease 
of the portage and the lands about Schlosser. The proposition 
to assign the lease, and sell only the personal property, made by 
Steadman himself, showed that his title to the land was ground- 
less. 

No other erections or improvements were made, at or near the 
Falls, previous to 1805, and the Steadman Farm, as it is still 
called, was the only property occupied and improved in the 
vicinity at that time. 

Although by the treaty of 1783, Great Britain recognized the 
great lakes as our northern boundary, yet under various pretexts, 
the forts at Oswego, Niagara and Detroit were not surrendered 
until 1796, after the ratification of Jay's treaty. Gen. Lincoln on 
his way westward to treat with the Indians in 1793, spent some 
time at Fort Niagara and at other points, on both sides of the 
river. Of Fort Schlosser he says, it was the place from which 
goods brought over the portage were formerly shipped, but being 
within the limits of the United States, the British had made 
a way on the west side of the river, though Fort Schlosser was 
still occupied by a British guard. He speaks well of Steadman's 
hospitality, and describes his house as standing on the bank of 
the river. 

During the Revolution, British loyalists, or tories as they were 
more commonly called, fled from New York, Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey to Canada, and made permanent settlements along 



28 

the river, and some of the baser sort took part in the bloody 
forays in the Mohawk and Susquehanna Valleys. Soon after 
Robert Morris purchased of Massachusetts the land lying west 
of Phelps & Gorham's purchase, he sold about three millions of 
acres to the Holland Land Company, with an agreement, after- 
wards fulfilled, to extinguish the Indian title. All the land 
titles in Niagara and several adjoining counties, are derived from 
that Company, except for lands included in the New York State 
Reservation. 

In 1789, Ontario County included all that part of the State 
lying west of Seneca Lake. In 1802, Genesee included all west 
of Genesee River. In 1808, Niagara included all the territory 
in the counties of Niagara and Erie, and was divided as at pres- 
ent, in 1 82 1. The officers of Niagara as first organized were 
Augustus Porter, First Judge; Asa Ransom, Sheriff"; and Louis 
Le Coutoulx, Clerk; and after the set off of Erie County, Silas 
Hopkins, First Judge ; Lothrop Cooke, Sheriff; and Oliver 
Grace, Clerk. 

The only road leading through Niagara County to the river, 
previous to 1800, was known for many years, as the old Queenston 
road, leading from Batavia to Lewiston and Fort Niagara. 
There was then no wagon road, on the east side of the river, from 
the Falls to Buffalo. In 1801, the United States Government 
directed Gen. Moses Porter, then in command at Fort Niagara, 
to employ his troops in opening a road to connect Fort Niagara 
with a fort then contemplated to be built, on the high bluff at 
Black Rock. This road, still known as the Military road, was 
opened from the top of the mountain at Lewiston, by a course 
as direct as possible to Tonawanda, and thence onward two or 
three miles on a straight line, so far as to cut and burn the timber, 
for a road six rods in width. Few bridges were built, or other 
work done, to make it passable for teams. In consequence of 
a disagreement between the General Government and State 
authorities, the work was discontinued, and the road left in an 



unfinished state, much to the injury of both parties, as was after- 
wards shown. If this road had been completed, it would greatly 
have enhanced the value of the lands, then the property of the 
State, and would have benefited the General Government in a 
much higher degree, in facilitating" transportation, and the move- 
ment of troops in the war of 1812. 

In the year 1805, the State of New York first offered the lands 
lying along the Niagara River for sale, and Augustus Porter 
and Peter B. Porter, and Benjamin Barton and Joseph Annin, 
jointly, purchased largely of the lands at Lewiston, Niagara 
Falls, and Black Rock, and elsewhere along the river. 

Augustus Porter first visited the Falls in 1795, and again in 1796, 
on his way, chief of a company of surveyors and assistants, to 
explore and lay out into townships, wh?i.t has since been known as 
the Western Reserve, at that time constituting a part of the great 
Northwestern Territory. His first impressions of the natural 
advantages of this locality, were decidedly favorable. Taking 
into view its position, on what was then, and in all probability 
would ever be, the great thoroughfare from east to w'est, 
with the vast water power, that as settlement advanced, must 
become very valuable, he could not but regard it as a point 
worthy of attention whenever the lands should be opened for sale 
and improvement. These views influenced him and his associates 
in the purchases referred to, with reference to immediate occupa- 
tion and improvement. In connection with his first visit in 1795, 
he makes the following statement. That he with his friend 
Judah Colt, made the journey on horseback, to Chippewa, U. C, 
and there took passage on a boat for Presque Isle (now Erie), 
Pa. The British still held possession of the military posts of 
Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw, and no American 
vessels had then been built on the lakes. Of Buffalo he says, 
the only residents at that time were Johnson, a British Indian 
interpreter, v/hose house stood on the site of the present Mansion 
House; Winnie, an Indian trader, and two other families. A 



30 

large part of the ground now occupied by the city was an un- 
broken wilderness. Of the Western Reserve in 1796 he says, 
not a white family resided within its limits. '^i <roc \ > 

In 1805, Augustus Porter built a sawmill and blacksmith's 
shop at Niagara Falls, preparatory to other improvements ; and 
in 1806 removed his family from Canandaigua to the old 
Steadman House near Fort Schlosser. 

Benjamin Barton settled at Lewiston in 1807, and Peter B. 
Porter at Black Rock in 18 10. 

Previous to 1805, little had been done to change the wild 
character of the country. Bears were common in the surround- 
ing forests, and wolves so numerous as to prevent keeping sheep, 
and so bold as frequently to approach within a short distance 
of the Steadman house, and their hideous nightly bowlings were 
familiar sounds in all the region about the Falls. Ducks and 
geese abounded in the river, and deer and smaller animals were 
very plentiful. The Indians were quite numerous, and fre- 
quently seen in their canoes passing up and down the river 
fishing and hunting, and in small encampments along the shore. 
Their costume consisted of a shirt, clout, leggins and mocas- 
sins in summer, with the addition of a blanket coat and cap in 
cool weather, and a knife and tomahawk stuck in a buckskin 
belt. The leading chiefs retained some importance in the esti- 
mation of the old settlers, and were treated with kindness and 
hospitality — always with good fare, and a bed of blankets and 
buffalo skins. I well remember Farmer's Brother, a noted Sen- 
eca chief, and his wife, being entertained at my father's house ; 
and also a visit there, of three or four days, from Red Jacket 
and his interpreter, and two young chiefs ; and when the visit 
was ended, leaving in their canoes, well stocked with provisions, 
and the indispensable bottle of whiskey. 

Other characteristics of the wildness of this region, mentioned 
by Charlevoix in 1721, continued for some years after settlement 
commenced. He says of his walk over the portage to the Falls, 



31 

that one cannot go ten paces without walking over an ant hill 
or a rattlesnake. This was rather a strong statement, but a 
hundred years later it expressed a good deal of truth. Ant 
hills abounded until removed by improvements of the land, and 
rattlesnakes were joint tenants, with a decided intention to retain 
possession. Not many years before the war of i8i2, Mr. Joshua 
Fairbanks, who resided near the Whirlpool, killed in a single 
day, in the spring, more than a hundred rattlesnakes, as they 
ascended the bank of the river at that place, the only point at 
which the ascent was possible. 

For several years the land immediately about the Falls remain- 
ed in a wild state ; cedars and a thick undergrowth extended 
along the margin of the river ; stately oaks grew along the 
lines of Buffalo and Main streets, some of them four and five 
feet in diameter. Of these, but a single one remains, on the old 
Porter Homestead, the last living memento of the epoch of La 
Salle and Hennepin. 

On the west side of the river, with the exception of a small 
plot where Barnett's museum now stands, the whole flat from 
Table Rock to the Clifton House was a swamp, covered chiefly 
with cedars. Cedars also grew thickly on the declivities, below 
the perpendicular banks, adding much to the general eflect of the 
scenery. The small islands in the rapids were the favorite 
resort of eagles, building their nests in the lofty hemlocks and 
cedars, and hovering over the wild waste of land and water, 
secure from molestation. 

For several years the descent to the ferry below the Falls was 
down the rugged precipice, near the present inclined plane, with 
the support only of bushes growing out of the crevices of the 
rocks, and by means of logs placed at an inclination, with notches 
cut for steps, answering the purpose of ladders. The river 
crossing was made in common log canoes. At a later period, an 
improvement was made on the primitive plan, by ladders con- 
nected and extending from top to bottom of the precipice, and 



32 

this was followed by a much more safe and convenient arrange-- 
ment, substituting for ladders a square timber frame, enclosed 
and provided with easy winding steps. Larger and safer boats 
were also used for ferriage, and this, though apparently the most 
dangerous, has proved the safest ferry on the river. 

In connection with the purchase of lands along the river, as 
before stated, and with a view to extended business operations, 
Augustus Porter and his associates obtained from the State a 
long lease of the landing places at Lewiston and Schlosser, with 
the exclusive privilege of transporting property across the port- 
age. In aid of this business, they purchased and built a num- 
ber of vessels on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and boats for the 
river ; so that for a number of years, transportation over this 
route was largely controlled by the firm of Porter, Barton & Co. 
They transported Ononadaga salt in large quantities, and sup- 
plies for the military posts ; also goods and furs for the exten- 
sive Indian trade of that period. 

All the river transportation between Schlosser and Lake Erie 
was done by them in boats, and the transfer of freight made at 
Black Rock. Some years before the war, they built a pier and 
warehouse on Bird Island, where transfers were made in calp 
weather. Before the war of 1812, Porter, Barton & Co. were 
owners in whole or part of the following vessels on Lake Erie : 
sloops Erie and Niagara, and schooners Tracy, Amelia, Ran- 
ger, Mary and Contractor ; and on Lake Ontario, schooners Ni- 
agara and Ontario. 

Previous to 1796 all transportation on the lakes was by means 
of boats and British vessels. 

William Savery, one of the deputation of the Society of Friends 
from Pennsylvania, associated with the United States Commis- 
sioners sent to treat with the Indians in 1793, in his journal says, 
the party went from Fort Niagara by way of Chippewa to Fort 
Erie, and there embarked on a British vessel furnished by Gov. 
Simcoe, for Sandusky. He states that at that time there were 



four British vessels on Lake Erie, and gives their names as fol- 
lows : Chippewa, Detroit, Ottawa and Dunmore. There must 
have been at least as many on Lake Ontario. Upon the surren- 
der by the British of the military posts of Oswego, Niagara and 
Detroit in 1796, settlement commenced along the American side 
of the lakes, and vessels were built as required, both on Lake 
Erie and Ontario. The British soon after built Forts George and 
Erie, and ceased to embarrass our free navigation of the lakes. 

One of the first American vessels on Lake Ontario, was the 
schooner Jemima, built by Eli Granger at the mouth of Gen- 
esee River in 1797, and sold in 1798 to Augustus and Peter B. Por- 
ter, of which the original bill of sale is still preserved. From 
that time to 1812 a considerable number of vessels were built at 
Oswego and other ports. In [808, the brig Oneida was built at 
Oswego for the United States service, and in 1809 the schoon- 
ers Niagara and Ontario were built by Porter, Barton & Co., at 
Lewiston. 

About 1800, the United States brig Adams was built at 
Detroit. In 1803, the schooner Contractor was built at Black 
Rock, and the sloop Niagara at Cayuga Creek. A number of 
vessels were built before the war, at Detroit, Erie, Black Rock, 
and elsewhere. 

Most of the vessels fit for service at the commencement of the 
war, were purchased by the United States, and .used as armed 
vessels or transports. After the war, the United States sold 
such vessels as were suitable for commercial purposes. In 18 15, 
Porter, Barton & Co. and Townsend, Bronson & Co., of Oswego, 
united under the firm of Sill, Thompson & Co., and purchased 
and built several vessels, and resumed and continued the trans- 
portation business from Oswego to the upper lakes until 1821, 
when the lease of the portage expired. Other forwarding lines 
had been established, and the' number of vessels increased 
rapidly. 

The first American steamboat on Lake Ontario, called the 



34 

Ontario, was built in 1817. The first steamboat on Lake Erie, 
named from an Indian chief, Walk-in-the- Water, was built at 
Black Rock in 181 8. 

After the Erie Canal was opened in 1825, the lines of through 
transportation by way of Niagara River and the portage were 
discontinued. 

In 1807, Porter, Barton & Co. built a grist mill at the Falls, 
and in order to obtain the force necessary to raise the frame, they 
were obliged to send to Fort Niagara for a detachment of soldiers. 

In 1808, Augustus Porter built his dwelling house, which was 
destroyed in the war of 18 12, and re-built on the same site, in 
1818. He also built a rope-walk, in which he manufactured 
rigging from hemp raised on Genesee flats, for vessels on the 
lakes, both American and British. Other improvements soon 
followed; atannery, a carding and clothes dressing establishment, 
several shops, a comfortable log tavern, and a number of small 
dwelling houses. A few settlements were made along the river, 
and on the military road. But the country was unhealthy, and 
the progress of improvement very slow. The following persons 
were householders in ' the village previous to 1812 : James 
Everingham, John W. Stoughton, Wm. Van Norman, Adoram 
Everingham, Joshua Fairchild, Ebenezer Hovey, Wm. Chapman, 
James Armstrong, John Sims, Jacob Hovey, Ezekiel Hill, Ralph 
Coffin, Ebenezer Brundage, and Oliver Udall. The following 
persons had purchased and settled on lands on the river and 
military roads: James Fields, Jacob Gilbert, Gad Pierce, Park- 
hurst Whitney, John and Abraham Wetmer, and Christian and 
Samuel Young, 

The war of 181 2 was a serious interruption to the progress of 
settlement and improvement here, and in all the -surrounding 
country, and subjected the people to great sacrifices and suffer- 
ings. It was commenced without preparation, and for a long 
time attended with disaster and disgrace. The militia were 
called out by thousands, for defence and invasion, and in their 



5 



undisciplined condition, were unfit for either. Immediately 
after the declaration of war, most of the families on the Niaj^ara 
frontier, removed to the interior, but <jenerally returned to their 
homes, and remained until the British and their Indian allies 
invaded and laid waste our defenceless frontier. 

In December, 1813, after the unjustifiable burning of New- 
ark (now Niagara), by General McClure, and the disbanding 
of the militia, the British with all their available force, crossed 
the river, a,t night, at the Five Mile meadows, two miles be- 
low Lewiston, and surprised and captured Fort Niagara. 
They then proceeded to Lewiston and the Falls, in their work 
of destruction ; buildings were burned, and property plun- 
dered, many unresisting persons killed, and others, only es- 
caping with their lives, were reduced in many cases to ex- 
treme want and suffering. At the Falls nothing was saved 
except two or three small buildings, and the log tavern, all of 
which were set on fire, but extinguished after the hasty departure 
of the enemy. Shortly after, Buffalo and Black Rock had a 
like visitation. No buildings were erected at the Falls until 
1815. Though our people shared largely in the losses and dis- 
couragements resulting from our numerous failures and defeats 
during the first years of the war, they had afterwards occasions for 
exultation in our successes. The disgraceful surrender of Gen. 
Hull at Detroit, the disastrous result of the attempted invasion 
of Canada at Oueenston, and the destruction of their homes and 
property, and the capture of Fort Niagara, were amply offset by 
the success of Gen. Harrison at the West, the hard fought battles 
on the Niagara Frontier, the defeat of the invading army at Platts- 
burg, and the glorious victories of Perry and McDonough, result- 
ing in the complete defeat and capture of both the British fleets. 
These with the no less brilliant achievements of Hull, Bainbridge, 
Decatur, Stewart, Porter and others, on the ocean, occasioned 
universal rejoicing, and inspired strong confidence in our final 
success. The battles of Niagara and Chippewa, the repulse of 



36 

the enemy in the assault on Fort Erie, and the gallant and 
successful sortie from that fort, by which the batteries of the 
enemy were destroyed and the siege raised, were among the 
bloodiest and most bravely contested battles of the war. Though 
no direct advantage was gained by the war, it had the important 
effect of teaching England thereafter to respect our rights by sea 
and land, as she had not previously done. y'h(ru-,j^ ( 

One battle scene of the war, ever to be remembered by the 
many spectators who witnessed it, was that of the successful 
landing of our army in Canada, and the destruction of Fort 
George. 

The army designed for the service, under the command of 
Gen. Dearborn, had been encamped at Four Mile Creek, on the 
shore of Lake Ontario, for several days. Early on a bright 
and beautiful morning in June, 1813, a large number of boats 
having. been provided, the order for embarcation was given, and 
as soon as completed, the flotilla, preceded by the fleet under 
Commodore Chauncey, moved slowly toward the point of attack. 
At the same time a heavy cannonade, with hot shot, was com- 
menced from Fort Niagara and the batteries near Youngston, on 
the works at Fort George. The inner works were chiefly of 
heavy timber, in which the hot shot made a lodgment, and in a 
few hours the fort was demolished and burned. The vessels of the 
fleet, twelve or fifteen large and small, were drawn up in a semi- 
circle around the point on which Fort Mississauga now stands, 
to cover the landing of the boats, and opened fire along the whole 
line, upon the British forces, posted on the bank and plain above. 
As the boats approached the shore, the enemy opened a well di- 
rected fire and made a spirited resistance for some time, but were 
finally routed, and our army marched directly to the fort, where 
our flag was soOn displayed. The whole movement, including 
the destruction of the fort, the embarcation and landing of the 
army, the battle and the final rout, was witnessed by a large num- 
ber of spectators from the banks of the lake and river and the 



37 
plain around Niagara, and among them the narrator, then a lad 
of eleven years, in company with his father and elder brother. 
Shortly after the battle commenced, the batteries of the enemy, 
which had remained silent all the morning, opened upon the fleet 
and upon all our forces and defences. Shells' burst frequently 
over the plain, and the fragments sometimes fell near groups of 
spectators, scattering them, but not much diverting their attention 
from the interesting scene before them. Most of them remained 
to witness the destruction of the fort and the close of the battle. 
Sixty years have passed since the close of our last contest 
with England, and we trust the scourge of war will never revisit 
these borders. 

The early colonists of America, from the two great rival nations 
of England and France, long cherished their hereditary animos- 
ities, and our two wars with England taught us to look upon Can- 
ada in no friendly light. Separated by the great natural boun- 
dary of the lakes and the river St. Lawrence, our intercourse was 
for a long time, far from being free and friendly. But this wide 
and deep boundary — unlike the English Channel, the Alps or 
the Pyrenees, which must ever separate nations — ^no longer forms 
a barrier to free intercourse. The increase of international com- 
merce through the lakes, and the numerous extensive lines of 
railroads, connected by the great bridges at Montreal, Niagara 
and Buffalo, have had a marked effect in removing all unfriend- 
liness, and in harmonizing social arid commercial relations be- 
tween the two coun^tries, so as to render it certain, that at no dis- 
tant time, they will form one vast country, under the same in- 
stitutions, extending from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf of 
Mexico to the frozen regions of the North. 

Looking at the condition of settlers west of Genesee River 
previous to the war of 1812, we find that a large portion of them 
were poor and in embarrassed circumstances, few of them having 
paid for their farms. A small class with more ample means, 
owners of large tracts of land, men of enterprise, and capital, 



38 

were making valuable improvements, opening roads, building 
mills and vessels, and in various ways converting timber, and 
other products of -the country, so as best to promote the progress 
of settlement and improvement. Between these two classes of 
men, there was then a distinction now wholly unknown. The large 
landholders and active capitalists, with the property qualifica- 
tion, then required of voters — which was finally abolished under 
the constitution adopted in 1821 — exercised the chief political 
power. The great majority found full employment in the sup- 
port of their families and improvement of their farms. But not- 
withstanding this inequality of outward circumstances, the most 
friendly and familiar relations existed between them. Few made 
any display of their more prosperous condition, and all main- 
tained their self-respect and independence, and were unbounded 
in acts of generosity and kindness, and liberal in hospitality, ac- 
cording to their circumstances. Farmers were ever ready to aid 
one another in cases of sickness and misfortune, and to exchange 
labor of men and teams, in clearing land and gathering crops, 
in plowing, and sowing; and even occasions of merry-making, 
called bees, were turned to profitable account. In primitive 
phrase the latch-string was always out, and all were made wel- 
come around the broad hearth, and at the great wood fire and 
generously supplied table of the comfortable log dwelling. Such 
hospitality loses nothing by comparison, for where there is more 
of show and ceremony, there is likely to be less of sincerity and 
cordiality. Men of liberal means, not only reciprocated hospital- 
ities with their immediate neighbors and friends, but extended 
like favors to strangers introduced by mutual friends. Taverns, 
or inns as they were then called, were not very commodious in 
that day, and gentlemen visiting the country usually brought with 
them letters of introduction, and were always kindly welcomed and 
entertained. Much was formerly claimed for Southern hos- 
pitality, but nowhere was the term more justly applied, than to 
the early settlers, of all conditions, in Western New York. The 



39 

habits and customs of the people have greatly changed since that 
period, there is more wealth, and a great deal more display, but 
some of the best attributes of society have sadly degenerated. 
This is especially true in regard to the sympathies of a common 
brotherhood, which are nowhere found so strong, as among the 
inhabitants of a new country. The people were then plain, 
honest, frugal, industrious and hospitable — and without the 
overweening greed o^ money, characteristic of latter times — 
were contented and happy. 

Taking another view of old times, there is no object more 
interesting than the old log school-house, and no character 
more worthy of remembrance than the country school-master. 
The model country school-house was built of logs, with the bark 
on, dovetailed at the corners, in size about 20 by 24 feet, a door 
on the front near the corner, a broad stone fire-place, with chim- 
ney of sticks plastered on the inside with clay, and two large 
stones for andirons, windows on three sides, six or eight feet long 
and two high, with writing tables arranged along the sides, and 
benches made of slabs, flat side up, wath legs inserted in auger 
holes, so high as to accommodate the larger pupils, and keep the 
smaller ones in order, from the fear of falling off. The furniture 
was completed, by the addition of a birch of good proportions, 
resting on two pegs driven into a log, in a conspicuous place. 
Such a school-house was the first built at the Falls. It stood by 
the roadside, north of Ontario street, near the Hydraulic canal. 
The school-books in use were Noah Webster's Spelling Book, 
Dr. Jedediah Morse's Geography, DaboU's Arithmetic, Lindley 
Murray's English Grammar, and the English Reader — a selec- 
tion from the best English authors — a list of school-books com- 
paring favorably with any since introduced. 

The teachers, at least some of them, had peculiar character- 
istics, soon understood by their pupils, and never forgotten. A 
few of these men, who were early employed in our village school, 
were fair samples of the order. The first was a bachelor, well 



40 

advanced, with a fair English education, and a smattering of 
Latin. When he apphed the birch, as he often did, with no 
sparing hand, he did not fail to assure the victim that he would 
thank him for his faithfulness to the end of his days. He was 
an ardent Jefifersonian democrat, and fully adopted the sentiment, 
and often repeated the democratic shibboleth of that day. Vox 
popiili, vox Dei. He had an infirmity of vision, as much con- 
cealed aa4 aided by the glasses he wore, a circumstance that 
his pupils sometimes miscalculated to their sorrow. Like most 
old bachelors, he had been disappointed in early love, and had 
a habit of soliloquizing aloud on the subject. Of course he had 
a tenderness for young lady pupils, that relieved in a degree, 
the severity of his discipline, not only toward them, but toward 
their offending brothers and favorites. 

"A man severe he was, and stern to view, 
I knew him well, and every truant knew — 
But passed is all his fame, and e'en the spot 
Where he once proudly triumphed, is' forgot." 

The second was a younger man, of genial temperament, who 
added to his other qualifications, some taste and skill in draw- 
ing, which he turned to good account, in drawing men and 
beasts and birds and fancy sketches, as rewards of merit. He 
had a vein of humor, that sometimes displayed itself in original 
and ridiculous forms of punishment. As for instance, in the 
case of a miss of fourteen, where discipline seemed necessary, 
instead of adopting the usual form of punishment, he called her 
to his seat, and taking her on his knees, and gently holding her 
with one hand, and with the other raising her club of carefully 
braided hair, like a barber's pole, he gave her a smart trot with 
a merry song and lively air, to the great mortification of the 
young lady, and to the unbounded satisfaction and uproarious 
delight of the whole school. 

He was a man of genius, ready wit, 
Fond of a joke, careless of where it hit.' 

The third was a man of decided amiability, and a painstaking 



41 

and successful teacher. According to the custom of the day, 
he boarded around in the families of his patrons for a longer or 
shorter time, proportioned to the number of scholars in each. 
He had a fondness for music, that always made him an accept- 
able guest, and was a universal favorite, not only for his merits 
as a teacher, and for the mildness of his discipline, but for his 
marked attention to the mothers and elder sisters of his pupils ; 
assisting the mothers in the care of the- younger children, and 
aiding the daughters in more sociable and agreeable employ- 
ments. 

' He was a man, genial and kind and true, 
Tlie mothers loved him, and the daughters too, 
And take him all in all, you seek in vain, 
To find a pedagogue like him again. 

Such were our educational advantages. Our religious privi- 
leges, outside of family instruction, were so few and small as 
to be scarcely noticeable. For many years after settlement 
commenced, public religious services were of rare occurrence. 
The Methodist preachers who in post-revolutionary times, kept 
step with the advance of settlement westward, with scarcely less 
zeal, than was manifested by the early French Jesuits for the 
Indians, were uncultivated, but earnest and enterprising men, 
devoted to their arduous work. But the settlements were scat- 
tered far and wide, and the visits of these worthy men were few 
and far between, and probably not a dozen public religious ser- 
vices w^ere held at the Falls previous to the close of the war, 
in 1815. 

Returning to our narrative. At the conclusion of the war, 
most of the former inhabitants returned, the mills and dwellings 
were rebuilt ; Parkhurst Whitney repaired and enlarged the old 
tavern, so as to make it a very comfortable resort for travelers ; 
Samuel DeVeaux built a store and settled as a merchant in the 
village; transportation over the portage was resumed, and two 
or three years of peace repaired the ravages of war. 

The year 18 16 was a very unfavorable one throughout the 



42 

country. Monthly frosts throughout the whole season cut off 
the crops — provisions were dear and money scarce — but with a 
succession of more productive seasons, the country became com- 
paratively prosperous. 

In 1816, Augustus Porter purchased Goat Island of the State, 
and erected a bridge to connect it with the main shore, from a 
point near the head of the island. This bridge proved insuffi- 
cient to resist the strong current and heavy masses of ice at that 
point, and was partially carried away in the first winter. In 
1 8 18, another bridge was constructed across the rapids, on the 
site of the present bridge, which has proved to be a secure posi- 
tion. For the old bridge of wood, the present bridge of iron 
was substituted in 1856. A cloth-dressing and wool-carding 
establishment was erected by James Ballard, in 18 16, and soon 
after enlarged, by D. & S. Chapman, for the manufacture of 
woolen cloth and satinet. In 1819-20, Parkhurst Whitney 
built a large addition to his tavern, giving it the name of Eagle 
Tavern. In 1821, a forge, rolling mill and a nail factory were 
built and carried on by Bolls & Gay. 

In 1822, Augustus Porter built a large flouring mill, now 
owned by Wetmer Brothers. In 1823, a paper mill was built by 
Jesse Symonds, near Goat Island bridge. In 1826, the upper 
race was extended, and Ira Cook, Wm. G. Tuttle, Chapin & 
Swallow, and others, erected works of different kinds upon it. 
In 1826, a large paper mill was built on Bath Island by Porter & 
Clark, aftewards purchased and enlarged by L. C. Woodruff. 

In 1825, the Erie Canal was completed, and a large water- 
power was drawn from it, at Lockport and elsewhere, which had 
the effect to check improvement here, and transfer it to the line 
of the canal, consequently little addition was made to popula- 
tion or business at the place for several years. 

In 1836, a year of extravagant speculation throughout the 
country, Benjamin Rathbun, a well-known hotel-keeper, builder, 
banker, and speculator in real estate, made large contracts for 



43 

the purchase of real estate in tliis village and vicinity. He 
built a large addition to the Eagle Tavern and laid the 
foundation for a very extensive hotel on the square now occu- 
pied by the International Hotel. The village plan was greatly 
enlarged, and he commenced a sale of village lots at auction, 
with good prospects of success, in the midst of which, the bub- 
ble burst, by his sudden and unexpected failure, with injurious 
effect to our village, and with still greater loss to many of his 
friends in Buffalo, the seat of his most extensive operations. 

In December, 1837, during the Canadian rebellion, an affair 
occurred at what is known as the Gill Creek Landing, about two 
miles above the Falls, of some historical interest, known as the 
" Caroline affair." A small American steamer, called the Caro- 
line, had been employed for several days in transporting men 
and supplies in connection with a large military force, composed 
chiefly of American citizens, occupying Navy Island, and 
threatening the invasion of Canada. It being well known that 
the steamer was moored at night at the dock on the American 
shore, an expedition conducted by Alexander McLeod, left 
Chippewa in the night, and reaching the American shore unob- 
served, captured the steamer, dispersing the crew and leaving 
one man on the dock dead. The steamer was towed into the 
river, set on fire, and left to drift over the Falls. This high- 
handed act excited great popular indignation, and for a time 
seriously threatened the peace of the two countries. Both par- 
ties were in the wrong, and as usual in such cases, both were 
glad to settle the matter fairly and restore friendly relations. 

In 1836, railroads were built and put in operation between 
Buffalo and Lockport and Niagara Falls, and though slightly 
built, answered a very good purpose, for the light traffic and 
travel of that period, and served greatly to relieve our village in 
the general reaction of 1836, and the embarrassments of two or 
three years afterwards. In 1845, an inclined plane, with cars 
operated by water power, was substituted for the old mode of 



44 

descending the river bank, by winding steps at the ferry. In 
1852, the railroad to Lockport was extended to Rochester, and 
in 1853, the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls Railroad, by way 
of Batavia, was completed. 

The first suspension bridge across Niagara River, intended 
only as temporary work, from which to constru'ct the permanent 
bridge, was erected by Charles Elhott in 1848. The great rail- 
road bridge was completed in 1855, on the plans and under the 
personal superintendence of John A. Robling, who shortly be- 
fore his death, made the plans and commenced the work of the 
much greater suspension bridge between New York and Brook- 
lyn. The suspension bridge for carriage travel, at Lewiston, was 
built in 185 I, and destroyed in a severe gale a few years after. 
The suspension bridge near the Falls, of a similar kind, was 
opened for travel in 1869. The railroad iron arch bridge at 
Black Rock was completed in 1874. 

A small steamboat was built in 1848, for the river below the 
Falls, and was succeeded by a larger and stronger one in 1854. 
In 1 861, the latter proving unprofitable, was safely navigated 
through the rapids to Lewiston. A similar feat, though unattend- 
ed with risk to human life, was performed in the rapids above 
the Falls in 1829, as a matter of experiment and curiosity. An 
old schooner was set adrift in the middle of the river above the 
rapids, and though badly broken, and completely water-logged 
in her passage through the rapids, yet following the deep current 
to the center of the horse- shoe, though drawing from twelve to 
fifteen feet water, passed over the Falls, apparently without touch- 
ing bottom, thus shoAving the depth of water at that point. 

The Cataract House was first built by David Chapman, in 
1824, and enlarged from time to time by Parkhurst Whitney & 
Sons. The International Hotel, built by B. F. Childs in 1853, 
enlarged by J. T. Bush, and occupying the site of the primitive 
log tavern, ranks with the Cataract, among the largest and best 
hotels in the country. The Niagara House and Spencer House 



45 

here, and the Monteagle Hotel at Suspension Bridge, are of 
more recent date, and are all hotels of high character and large 
capacity. 

The Hydraulic Canal, which extends from deep water, above 
the rapids, to the high bank below the Falls, is of much impor- 
tance to the convenient use of our great water-power. It effect- 
ually obviates all inconvenience from ice, and affords abundant 
supply of water, with a fall, practically unlimited. Augustus 
Porter, who owned the land through which this canal passes, 
early saw its importance, and for many years before his death, 
made the most liberal offers to capitalists to undertake the work, 
involving a greater expense than his own means would afford. 
His heirs believing in his estimate of the importance of the work, 
finally succeeded in securing the means necessary for the pur- 
pose, by a free gift of the water-power and about seventy acres 
of land, lying in the village, adjoining the lower end of the canal. 
The canal was completed several years ago, but for various rea- 
sons only recently improved. In 1874, two of our enterprising 
business men purchased one of the mill seat lots, and erected 
upon it a large flouring mill, which was completed about the first 
of February, 1875, and was in constant operation, through the 
coldest part of that extremely cold winter, without the slightest 
interruption from ice, or any other cause. This mill, valuable in 
itself, has an additional value, in demonstrating the perfection 
of our water power, and will doubtless lead to its extended use 
for other manufacturing establishments, greatly for the benefit of 
our village, and affords a gratifying proof of the correct judgment 
and liberal policy of the original proprietors. 

The first common school was opened in this town in 1807, and 
good schools have been ever since maintained. In 185 r and 1854, 
two large stone school-houses, of three stories each, were erected 
in the village. In 1852, an academy was built, by one of the 
early proprietors, and conducted with nmch success, as a classical 
school for several years. The building is still occupied for edu- 



46 

cational purposes on another plan. Our common schools were 
made free in 1855. Samuel DeVeaux, an early settler in the 
village, who died in 1854, made a large bequest for the estab- 
lishment of an institution, for the support and education of 
orphan boys. The trust was faithfully and successfully exe- 
cuted, and the institution known as DeVeaux College, located 
near Suspension Bridge, has been for several years in successful 
operation. 

Church Societies were formed in this town in the following 
order: Methodist in 1815, Presbyterian in 1824, Episcopal in 
1830, Baptist in 1848, Catholic in 1848. Public "religious serv- 
ices were held for several years in the village school-house. A 
small union church was built and occupied by the Methodists, 
Episcopalians and other denominations, about 1828. The Pres- 
byterians maintained regular services in the school-house from 
1824 to 183 1, when they built a church on the south-east corner 
of Fall and First streets. The Episcopal church on First street 
was built in 1847. The Presbyterians erected their present stone 
church on First street in 1849, ^'^^ sold their old church to the 
Methodists. The Methodists built their stone church on First 
street in 1871. The Catholics built their stone church on Fourth 
street in 1849, afterwards greatly enlarged it, and built the new 
front, with tower and spire, in 1874. The Episcopalians com- 
pleted the walls and tower of their new stone church on Union 
street in 1873-4. The Congregational church at Suspension 
Bridge was organized in 1855, and the church built in 1858 ; the 
Episcopal church in 1859, and the church built in 1866. Other 
smaller churches have been formed at that place within a few 
years. 

Weekly newspapers have been published at the Falls as fol- 
lows: Iris of Niagara, by Geo. H. Hackstaff from 1847 to 
1854; Niagara Falls Times, by Wm. E. Tunis from 1855 to 
1857 ; Niagara Falls Gazette, by Pool & Sleeper from 1854 to 
1864, and by Wm. Pool since 1864. At Suspension Bridge sev- 



47 

eral papers, under different names, have been published since 
1855. The Suspension Bridge Journal \^2.s estabhshcd in 1870. 
Gas works were built at the Falls in i860, by which gas is sup- 
plied to both villages, and conveyed to Canada by pipes laid on 
the suspension bridge. In addition to the buildings already 
named, our village contains shops for various purposes, operated 
by water power ; and all the trades and occupations common to 
ordinary towns. A large number of mechanics are employed in 
the extensive building and repairing shops of the New York 
Central Railroad Company. We have dry goods, grocery and 
provision, hardware, boot and shoe, druggist, and jewelry stores, 
and a large number of fancy and variety stores, supplied with rare 
and beautiful goods, sold in large quantities to visitors at the 
Falls. 

A number of artists are constantly employed in the manufac- 
ture of photographic views of the Falls, for which they find 
ready sale, both at home and abroad. We have, also, ministers, 
lawyers, doctors, and teachers, in due proportion. Our streets 
are lined with shade trees, and lighted with gas, and carriages 
for the convenience of visitors are numerous, and kept in the 
best possible condition of neatness and order. 

The population of Niagara Falls taken in 1875 was about 
3,500, and that of the town, 6,876. 

Our village possesses great advantages, both natural and 
artificial, in its healthful atmosphere, its unequaled water- 
power, its extended railroad connections, its magnificent bridges 
and hotels, and in the world-wide fame of the great Cataract. 
These advantages insure a certain and steady, if not rapid 
growth, and render it more and more a great center of resort, 
from all parts of our country and the world. That it did not 
increase as rapidly as the early settlers expected, was owing to 
causes not at first foreseen, but now well understood. Situated 
on the great natural channel of communication between the 
lakes and the ocean, it was reasonable to expect, that with the 



48 

improvement of the country, near and remote, the vast water 
power, so favorably situated, would be rapidly improved, with the 
usual result of labor and enterprise. But before the village had 
recovered from the effects of the war; and while the surrounding 
country, suffering from other embarrassments, was making slow 
progress in improvement, at the early period of 1825, the Erie 
Canal was opened in its full extent. The immediate effect was, 
to divert the business of transportation from the old channel, 
and attract all enterprise and capital to the numerous villages 
growing up on the canal. Another injurious effect of the canal 
on this locality, though beneficial to the new villages, was the 
large water power it afforded, at points where little or none had 
previously existed — at Black Rock, Lockport, Medina, and other 
towns west of Rochester ; adding greatly to their growth, and 
proportionably diminishing ours. 

There is one point of view of peculiar interest connected with 
this locality. Considering the vast and uniform flow of water, 
with a fall of more than three hundred feet, in a distance of seven 
miles, we should naturally expect great changes to be constantly 
and rapidly going on; and we may well credit some of the plausi- 
ble and interesting theories of geologists, based upon a cause so 
powerful, operating through an unlimited period. Changes have 
occurred, probably at no very remote period, in the bed of the 
river, opposite and above Goat Island, with little or no disturb- 
ance of the rock formation. Goat Island has undoubtedly been 
much larger than at present, covering the extensive shoal lying 
above it, and has been gradually reduced to its present dimen- 
sions, by the rapid current along its sides ; an operation that 
would have swept away the whole island, but for the fact, that 
the part remaining, is based on a rock formation, rising at the 
head above the level of the river, and is shielded on both sides, 
by a number of small islands or masses of rocks, securing it 
against the action of water and ice — outposts and guards against 
future encroachment. This theory is well illustrated by a similar 



49 

operation, within the recollection of the narrator. Little more 
than fifty years ago, there was a small island, called Gull Island, 
situated near the middle of the west channel, and opposite about 
the center of Goat Island, thirty or forty rods long and two or 
three rods wide, rising so much above the level of the river, as to 
sustain a considerable growth of shrubs and rushes. By some 
change in the current, caused probably by an unusual rise of 
water, it was gradually worn away, and after a few years, en- 
tirely disappeared. 

Great changes in the Falls have taken place since Hennepin's 
view was taken. Within the recollection of many persons still 
residing here, rocks have fallen in immense masses, materially 
changing the contour of the Falls. A large portion of Table 
Rock fell in i8i8. Another fall occurred in the bed of the river, 
extending several hundred feet from Table Rock into the chan- 
nel, in i8€8. Again another portion of Table Rock fell in 
1850; and in 1852, a large mass fell near Goat Island, westward. 
Smaller portions of rock are frequently falling, in both channels 
of the river, of which no particular note is taken. 

Hereafter, changes that occur may be more definitely de- 
scribed. In 1842, James Hall and E. M. Blackwell made a 
careful trigonometrical survey of the Falls and vicinity, plant- 
ing permanent stone monuments, and inserting copper bolts in 
the rocks at prominent points, on both sides of the I'iver, and on 
Goat Island. This survey, made by authority of the State, 
with a map show'ing all the stations and bearings, is published 
in the Natural History of the State of New York. A re-sur- 
vey from the same points, at any future time, will show, by 
comparison with the survey of 1842, any changes that may have 
taken place. Future changes in the configuration of the Falls, 
. may also be shown hereafter, by comparison w4th photographic 
views, taken in great perfection, for several years past, from 
every accessible point, above and below the Falls. 

To us, who have lived for many years within sight and hear- 



50 

ing of the great Cataract, Niagara is a household word, associa- 
ted with our earhest and happiest recollections. Long familiar- 
ity has in no degree lessened its grandeur or moral power. 
There is an enchantment in the scene, strongly felt by persons 
who have lived long within its influence, scarcely to be found 
elsewhere. Nowhere is the great law of change more impres- 
sively taught. Generation succeeds generation, and all the 
works of human skill and labor perish — here we have strikingly 
illustrated, the fact, that change, slow but sure and unmistaka- 
ble, is passing upon the very rocks, and that they too are yield- 
ing to the all subduing power of natural forces. 

One point of deepest interest, still claims our special notice. 
It will readily occur to all, that we refer to our pleasant rural 
cemetery, situated on the high ground north of the village 
limits, where a numerous company are already gathered, and 
where many of us expect to find our final resting-place. Here 
rest the pioneers of the wilderness, their toils all ended, and a 
rich inheritance transmitted their children. Here too repose the 
martyrs of the great rebellion, their battles fought, and their 
cause victorious. And side by side Avith these, are loving 
friends and dearest kindred, over whose graves we linger in 
fond remembrances of the past, and bright hopes of the future. 
Even in that retired spot, the associations of the Cataract meet 
us. As we follow our friends, one after another, to their last 
resting-place, where all else is quiet, the roar of the Cataract 
falls heavily on our ears, suggesting the sublime thought, that 
this Voice of many Waters will be their ceaseless requiem, until 
the Trump of the Resurrection , rising above all earthly sounds, 
shall hush it in everlasting silence. 

This centenary year of our national life, marks a period half 
as long as our whole local history. 

Two hundred years ago, the light of civilization had not 
dawned on this benighted region. A howling wilderness spread 
out on every side, where wild beasts roamed in their native fe- 



51 

rocity, and tribes of sava<^"c men, more cruel still, \vay;ed un- 
ceasing wars of extermination. So it had been for ages, and 
so it would have been for ages to come, but for the introduc- 
tion of Christian Civilization. 

La Salle and his brave followers laid the foundation for a new 
history. The fort at Niagara, and the Griffin — the pioneer of 
the upper lakes — foretold concjuest and discovery, and change 
of race, slow but certain. 

The ambition ^nd jealousy of rival nations waged long and 
bloody wars for supremacy, and the conquering nation had still 
to settle the question of final sovereignty wdthin itself. Two 
wars with England — long since closed — were the last obstacles in 
the way of progress and improvement, and left the kindred 
nations to exercise rivalry, only in the arts of peace. 

When we review our eventful history, and note the changes of 
the last half century, where shall we find, in our whole broad 
land, a locality so full of interest and promise .-" If our Union 
and free institutions are maintained, and the good Providence of 
God continues to protect and prosper our nation in the future, 
as in the past, Niagara has a pledge of growth and greatness, as 
stable as her rocks, and abundant as her flowing- waters. 



NOTES. 

Note J. — Captain Puchot, commandant at Fort Niagara from 1756 to the surren- 
der in 1759, in his Memoir of the French War, from 1755 ^o '6°' ^"^^7 ^^escribes 
Niagara River, the Falls, the Rapids at Black Rock, and the Islands ; also the situa- 
tion and character of the fortifications at Fort Niagara ; the portage and the landing 
places, and Fort Little Niagara. 

There was a wagon road from Fort Niagara to the lower portage landing (Lewis- 
ton), used chiefly in winter when the navigation was obstructed by ice. The port- 
age road, passing through woods and wet land, was very bad ; that part of it extend- 
ing from the landing to the top of the mountain, was circuitous and poorly con- 
structed, and the ascent very difficult. A very steep pathway, leading directly from 
the river to the summit, was used by travelers and pack-carriers. On the lower 
bank were three buildings, and on the upper one, used as warehouses for goods in 
transit. There were also warehouses at Fort Little Niagara for storage of public 
property, and the goods of Indian traders. The stone used at Fort Niagara was 
brought from the mountain, lime from Frontenac, and timber from the banks of the 
Chenondac — Chippewa Creek. 

Notes. — The tradition referred to of French vessels burned near Grand Island, 
Capt. Puchot indirectly contradicts, when he says, " Lake Erie had not been ex- 
plored by any person capable of giving an accurate description of it, and was only 
navigated with bark canoes and batteaux." And again he says, "It would have 
been well to have built a small vessel, with which, from May to September, whdn the 
navigation is always good, to sound and reconnoiter all the shelters around Lake 
Erie, so as to build vessels proper for the navigation, which would save great labor 
and expense." 

Note 2. — -The Western Reserve included the territory lying between the 41st 
degree of latitude, and Lake Erie ; and the west line of Pennsylvania, and a meridian 
line drawn 120 miles west of said line. It had never been surveyed, but was sup- 
posed to contain about '},% millions of acres, and the Connecticut Land Company pur- 
chased on that estimate. But when Augustus Porter had completed the traverse of the 
lake shore, it was found to extend further south than had been supposed, so as not 
to include the quantity named ; and to cut off entirely a surplus, that had been ex- 
pected, by a speculative association, called the Excess Company. So much dissatis- 
faction was expressed by the latter company with Mr. Porter's estimate, that the 
Professor of Mathematics from Yale College was employed to review his calculations. 
Much to the satisfaction of Mr. Porter, and to the disappointment of the Excess 
Company, his calculations were found coiTect, and were approved and adopted. 

Note 4. — Before the war of 1812, England had given repeated causes of offence; 
in withholding the military posts, and encouraging the hostility of the Indians ; in 
embarrassing our commerce, andimpressing our seamen ; doubtless in the belief, that 
our government could not survive a war ; otherwise she would not have provoked it, 
while so deeply involved in the great European struggle. Since that war, no Order 
in Council has embarrassed our commerce, and no American sailor has been im- 
pressed; our boundaries have been amicably and justly settled, and no cause of 
offence given, to the time of the great Rebellion ; and the wrongs then allowed, have 
been frankly acknowledged, and our claims honestly paid. 



^ ^^ 






cc 

CC ! 

cc 

cc 

- - CC 

' - cc 
-.' , cc 

-'^ CC 



i«<^-'- 



"^^^c cf 

' cc cc 
^_cc cc 

XQ(C 
ICCC 

"cr cc 
T^c CC 

TccC 

c-' cc (C 

/: • <r-c 

C ' C c 

(^^ .(P'C 

C < ■ (^ :C 

^S cc ^ 



CC>c 
ccc 



.C:^$ 

cC^c cc 

ccc<:.^ --rr 

c<^(<, cc 

Jcc^ cc 

rc*^ cc 

Vx^ CC 

ca- . tc 

CCe cc 

CC<^ ^^ 

C C ^ c( 

C CI C- ■ cc 

- C ■ (( 

"'- c 

-- C. ■ i( 



C «^ 






cc <£: $=^ 

cc <o-c 

CC^d'Cp 

c<v cr c:u 
- Ci-' c:<: O.- • 

^<(( ®:Cc 
^ vcr err c:c - 
- cc; u: cc ^ 

"•cc cc C ' - ; 

" 'k (CfC C ^ ■ 

'^c c< C ' 



CvC 

,^CC^^ 

cC^cC. 
iCcC 



.^•C(C 

€:■€: 

€LCC 

c: ct 
ccc 

^ oC 

CfC 



C CC 
c. cc 

,c cc. 
C CC 






cCJ^- 
























.^ ' ^ C" <c" ^C( <- C ' c Cc 






cc C 






c <ic 
^ c c 

.. t c 



cc c 

Z cc r , 












V "^A i>\k». m^. "^-^ v^ 






CcC* 



<e«. <^f 'S 



CC -r C(^ 

cc <^ &^ 
cc C ga 

C C ' c c^vS 

cc. -^ 49% 



<'Cu cs': 
^c^> dr- 
ee <3C tCi 

ccor <i«^ 

CCQC QM- 

CCOC C5<Si 

ccorc cioc 






c^CC^ 



cv V' a -C 'CX 



•^.a^c 









te -, 



. sCL *c :, ' <-<; 



>^ . ^KX.X. 



¥'rcSK:< 



A-C 



^:-c^ 






h t. f^ 1 



«rv rrtlf CC 













